Book of Common Prayer
106 Halleluyah!
Give thanks to Adonai; for he is good,
for his grace continues forever.
2 Who can express Adonai’s mighty doings
or proclaim in full his praise?
3 How happy are those who act justly,
who always do what is right!
4 Remember me, Adonai, when you show favor to your people,
keep me in mind when you save them;
5 so I can see how well things are going
with those whom you have chosen,
so that I can rejoice in your nation’s joy,
and glory in your heritage.
6 Together with our ancestors, we have sinned,
done wrong, acted wickedly.
7 Our ancestors in Egypt failed to grasp
the meaning of your wonders.
They didn’t keep in mind your great deeds of grace
but rebelled at the sea, at the Sea of Suf.
8 Yet he saved them for his own name’s sake,
to make known his mighty power.
9 He rebuked the Sea of Suf, and it dried up;
he led them through its depths as through a desert.
10 He saved them from hostile hands,
redeemed them from the power of the foe.
11 The water closed over their adversaries;
not one of them was left.
12 Then they believed his words,
and they sang his praise.
13 But soon they forgot his deeds
and wouldn’t wait for his counsel.
14 In the desert they gave way to insatiable greed;
in the wastelands they put God to the test.
15 He gave them what they wanted
but sent meagerness into their souls.
16 In the camp they were jealous of Moshe
and Aharon, Adonai’s holy one.
17 The earth opened up and swallowed Datan
and closed over Aviram’s allies.
18 A fire blazed out against that group,
the flames consumed the wicked.
19 In Horev they fashioned a calf,
they worshipped a cast metal image.
20 Thus they exchanged their Glory
for the image of an ox that eats grass!
21 They forgot God, who had saved them,
who had done great things in Egypt,
22 wonders in the land of Ham,
fearsome deeds by the Sea of Suf.
23 Therefore he said that he would destroy them,
[and he would have,] had not Moshe his chosen one
stood before him in the breach
to turn back his destroying fury.
24 Next, they rejected the beautiful land,
they didn’t trust his promise;
25 and they complained in their tents,
they didn’t obey Adonai.
26 Therefore, raising his hand, he swore to them
that he would strike them down in the desert
27 and strike down their descendants among the nations,
dispersing them in foreign lands.
28 Now they joined themselves to Ba‘al-P‘or
and ate meat sacrificed to dead things.
29 Thus they provoked him to anger with their deeds,
so that a plague broke out among them.
30 Then Pinchas stood up and executed judgment;
so the plague was checked.
31 That was credited to him as righteousness,
through all generations forever.
32 They angered him at the M’rivah Spring,
and Moshe suffered on their account;
33 for when they embittered his spirit,
[Moshe] spoke up without thinking.
34 They failed to destroy the peoples,
as Adonai had ordered them to do,
35 but mingled with the nations
and learned to follow their ways.
36 They went on to serve their idols,
which became a snare for them.
37 They even sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to demons.
38 Yes, they shed innocent blood,
the blood of their own sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to Kena‘an’s false gods,
polluting the land with blood.
39 Thus they were defiled by their deeds;
they prostituted themselves by their actions,
40 For this Adonai’s fury blazed up against his people,
and he detested his heritage.
41 He handed them over to the power of the nations,
and those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies oppressed them
and kept them in subjection to their power.
43 Many times [God] rescued them,
but they kept making plans to rebel.
Thus they were brought low
by their own wrongdoing.
44 Still he took pity on their distress
whenever he heard their cry.
45 For their sakes he kept in mind his covenant
and in his limitless grace relented,
46 causing them to be treated with compassion
by all who had taken them captive.
47 Save us, Adonai our God!
Gather us from among the nations,
so that we can thank your holy name
and glory in praising you.
48 Blessed be Adonai, the God of Isra’el,
from eternity past to eternity future.
Now let all the people say,
“Amen! Halleluyah!”
14 (13:16) Shomron will bear her guilt,
for she has rebelled against her God.
They will fall by the sword,
their little ones will be dashed to pieces
and their pregnant women ripped open.
2 (1) Return, Isra’el, to Adonai your God,
for your guilt has made you stumble.
3 (2) Take words with you, and return to Adonai;
say to him, “Forgive all guilt,
and accept what is good;
we will pay instead of bulls
[the offerings of] our lips.
4 (3) Ashur will not save us,
we will not ride on horses,
and we will no longer call
what we made with our hands our gods.
For it is only in you
that the fatherless can find mercy.”
5 (4) “I will heal their disloyalty,
I will love them freely;
for my anger has turned from him.
6 (5) I will be like dew to Isra’el;
he will blossom like a lily
and strike roots like the L’vanon.
7 (6) His branches will spread out,
his beauty be like an olive tree
and his fragrance like the L’vanon.
8 (7) Again they will live in his shade and raise grain;
they will blossom like a vine,
and its aroma will be
like the wine of the L’vanon.
9 (8) Efrayim [will say], ‘What have I
to do any more with idols?’
And I, I answer and affirm him;
I am like a fresh, green cypress tree;
your fruitfulness comes from me.”
10 (9) Let the wise understand these things,
and let the discerning know them.
For the ways of Adonai are straight,
And the righteous walk in them,
but in them sinners stumble.
30 However, the next day, since he wanted to know the specific charge the Judeans were bringing against him, he released him and ordered the head cohanim and the whole Sanhedrin to meet. Then he brought Sha’ul down and put him in front of them.
23 Sha’ul looked straight at them and said, “Brothers, I have been discharging my obligations to God with a perfectly clear conscience, right up until today.” 2 But the cohen hagadol, Hananyah, ordered those standing near him to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Sha’ul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! Will you sit there judging me according to the Torah, yet in violation of the Torah order me to be struck?” 4 The men nearby said, “This is the cohen hagadol of God that you’re insulting!” 5 Sha’ul said, “I didn’t know, brothers, that he was the cohen hagadol; for it says in the Torah, ‘You are not to speak disparagingly of a ruler of your people.’”[a]
6 But knowing that one part of the Sanhedrin consisted of Tz’dukim and the other of P’rushim, Sha’ul shouted, “Brothers, I myself am a Parush and the son of P’rushim; and it is concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead that I am being tried!” 7 When he said this, an argument arose between the P’rushim and the Tz’dukim, and the crowd was divided. 8 For the Tz’dukim deny the resurrection and the existence of angels and spirits; whereas the P’rushim acknowledge both. 9 So there was a great uproar, with some of the Torah-teachers who were on the side of the P’rushim standing up and joining in — “We don’t find anything wrong with this man; and if a spirit or an angel spoke to him, what of it?” 10 The dispute became so violent that the commander, fearing that Sha’ul would be torn apart by them, ordered the soldiers to go down, take him by force and bring him back into the barracks.
11 The following night, the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage! For just as you have borne a faithful witness to me in Yerushalayim, so now you must bear witness in Rome.”
39 He also told them a parable: “Can one blind man lead another blind man? Won’t they both fall into a pit? 40 A talmid is not above his rabbi; but each one, when he is fully trained, will be like his rabbi. 41 So why do you see the splinter in your brother’s eye, but not notice the log in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the splinter from your eye,’ when you yourself don’t see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye; then you will see clearly, so that you can remove the splinter from your brother’s eye!
43 “For no good tree produces bad fruit, nor does a bad tree produce good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit — figs aren’t picked from thorn bushes, nor grapes from a briar patch. 45 The good person produces good things from the store of good in his heart, while the evil person produces evil things from the store of evil in his heart. For his mouth speaks what overflows from his heart.
46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ but not do what I say? 47 Everyone who comes to me, hears my words and acts on them — I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like someone building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on bedrock. When a flood came, the torrent beat against that house but couldn’t shake it, because it was constructed well. 49 And whoever hears my words but doesn’t act on them is like someone who built his house on the ground without any foundation. As soon as the river struck it, it collapsed and that house became a horrendous wreck!”
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.